Chapter 67: Sent by Mail

  Ning Cheng patted Tai Shu Shi's shoulder again, "Shi Tou, you really should go to my hometown and take a look. Learn how those cunning businessmen operate capital. What stays in your own hands is the least valuable. The most valuable things must be sent out to reveal their true value, then bring back the revealed value and drive your own interests."

  "You think this is just a sprig of grass, if we put it on our body, at most it's just a sprig of grass, taking up space. But once you take it out, it becomes something entirely different, immediately turning into what we need the most. This is capital operation. Alright, to put it simply, even fruit vendors know to sell the good stuff and keep the bad for themselves. Are they stupid? No, this is maximizing profit."

  Ning Cheng suddenly thought of the even more precious Soul Nourishing Wood he had stored in his storage bag, and his old face turned red as he couldn't say anything else.

  Tai Shu Shi seemed to have forgotten about the Lingguang grass in his hand and asked subconsciously, "Do all people from Pingzhou engage in business?"

  "My hometown is not Pingzhou, it's a long story, let's talk about it later." Ning Cheng didn't want to explore this topic.

  "Good." Tai Shu Shi's attention returned to the Lingguang grass in his hand, and his expression immediately became excited. "Big brother, this Lingguang grass can definitely be sold for over 10,000 low-grade spirit stones. What a pity, if it were in a middle-grade continent, it could even be sold for 10,000 mid-grade spirit stones."

  "How many low-grade spirit stones can be exchanged for a mid-grade spirit stone?" Ning City knew that there were high, medium and low grades of spirit stones, but he was not clear about the exchange ratio between them.

  Tai Shu Shi was more familiar with these than Ning Cheng, and immediately replied, "One top-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for ten mid-grade spirit stones. One mid-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for ten low-grade spirit stones. However, there is another type of spirit stone called extreme-grade spirit stone. This thing is extremely precious, theoretically one extreme-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for a hundred top-grade spirit stones. In reality, no one has ever used an extreme-grade spirit stone to exchange for top-grade spirit stones, not even a thousand, no one would be willing to make the trade."

  Ning Cheng hadn't replied yet, when a lean black-clad man suddenly rushed out from the Xijia auction house. As soon as he appeared, he stared at the jade box in Tai Shu Shi's hand and quickly asked, "Is there Lingguang grass inside this box?"

  They almost came to blows over what was being said.

  Tai Shu Shi gathered the aurora grass and said with a fist, "Yes, we are here to send the aurora grass for auction. I don't know if it can make it in time for tomorrow night's auction?"

  "Come on, come on, hurry up and please enter." The thin old man in black clothes said with a eager face, his eyes didn't even glance at Ning Cheng and Uncle Shi, but stared at the package behind Uncle Shi's back.

  ……

  After a stick of incense, Ning Cheng and Tai Shu Shi walked out of the Western Suburb Auction House. Tai Shu Shi's eyes were filled with excitement, but also a hint of worry. They had only proposed one condition: that the Nai Guang Grass must be put up for auction tomorrow. But the auctioneer's commission was also making Ning Cheng's heart ache, an unprecedented 50% - this was what it meant to split the profit equally, and it was simply too black-hearted.

  As for Tai Shu Shi's concerns, Ning Cheng also understood that he was worried that the Lingguang Grass would be auctioned off and lost. In fact, Ning Cheng had similar concerns before, in this place, robbery and plundering were too normal. It was as if they knew that the auction house was black, but they still had to agree, without strength, there was no right to speak.

  However, the Rainbow Grass has now been consigned to auction and is being split 50/50, so he can finally put his mind at ease. If this thing were still in their hands and the news got out, that would be a disaster. Now that it's no longer in their hands, there's actually nothing to worry about. The Xijia Auction House seems quite reputable too, surely they wouldn't do something so damaging just for a single fourth-grade spiritual herb.

  "Don't worry, the Luminous Grass is not on us, that's actually a good thing. What you need to think about is how to get a Sprig of Azure Bloom and then find someone to refine it into a Dan medicine." Ning Cheng's biggest concern was how to get his hands on the Congealing True Pill, and then advance to the Congealing True Realm.

  Tai Shu Shi felt a lot more at ease after hearing Ning Cheng's words, "We can definitely get the Blue Spirit Stone from the auction houses in Xi Jia City. Even if we can't get it, we can always buy it from Sanda Dan at a high price."

  "Sandadan teacher?" Ning City repeated this name.

  "Right, it's indeed Master Sandadan. He is one of the only two third-grade true dan masters in Xijia City. His reputation is impeccable, and even if you bring out a rare spiritual herb, as long as he can get a satisfactory price, he will help with the refining process. Moreover, he has never revealed what kind of dan medicine his customers are refining. He earns everything openly and honestly, and would never resort to strong-arm tactics."

  Ning Cheng heard that there was such a person and said with satisfaction, "This is not bad. Once we get the Lingdi Blue, we will go find this Sanda Dan Shifu."

  Tai Shu sighed and said, "This Sanda Dan master is good at everything, but his pricing is too black-hearted, even more so than the Western Suburb Auction. If you want him to refine a pill, he will charge six-tenths of the medicinal herbs, and also collect spirit stones."

  Six-tenths of the elixir, and you still want me to pay with spirit stones? Ning Cheng thought that this was not being ruthless, but rather being as black-hearted as coal. It seems that alchemy is indeed a lucrative business.

  ……

  "After you rescue Lian'e, are you planning to bring her along for cultivation? Will you also bring her when we go to Huazhou?" Ning Cheng asked Taishu Shi seriously in a private room at the Xiya City Inn.

  He didn't know what kind of cultivation Lian'e had, if it was okay in Xijia City, but if she went to Huazhou in the future, if Lian'e's cultivation was too poor, then going to Huazhou would have to be reconsidered.

  "Uncle Shi shook his head and said, "I didn't plan to take her to Huazhou, nor did I plan to marry her. I am a descendant of the Tai family, or one day I will fall on the way to Leizhou. The path I have to take has already been revealed, not a single day of my life is peaceful, it's not suitable to bring her along."

  Ning City didn't ask about that again, and the two of them continued to discuss how to advance to Condensing Truth after obtaining the Condensing Pill, and then go to Huazhou. Later, they exchanged their cultivation experiences with each other, at first Ning City still had some things he didn't understand and needed to ask Tai Shu Shi about, but later on it was only Tai Shu Shi asking Ning City questions.

  The night passed in mutual inquiry, and Ning Cheng and Uncle Stone not only didn't look tired, but were also spirited. They knew they had to go to the auction today, and both of them were eager to know how much Ling stone the Rainbow Grass could sell for.

  ……

  Ning Cheng had never been to an auction before, he had only seen it on TV. When he and Tai Shu Shi entered the auction house in Xi Jia City, he was immediately stunned by the luxurious atmosphere.

  The auction hall was surrounded by large white jade carvings, and the seats for bidders were rows of small booths. Each booth had a beautiful woman standing outside. Ning Cheng's first impression was that no auction on earth could compare to this one.

  "Uncle Tai said in a low voice, 'The auctions usually held in Xijia City are small-scale and don't have private boxes or so many female cultivators serving. It seems that this time is because of the Lingguang Grass, they've specially raised the level of the auction.'"

  Ning Cheng and Tai Shu arrived relatively early. When the two of them arrived, the door to the small room had already been closed, clearly indicating that someone else had arrived even earlier than they did.

  Half an hour later, the main lamp on the auction stage suddenly lit up brightly. A middle-aged man walked onto the auction stage, first making a fist to the surroundings, then said, "Today's auction was originally a small-scale routine auction, but because of the two precious items that arrived yesterday, we decided to upgrade this auction. Fortunately, there will be a large-scale auction at the end of this month, and many distinguished guests from Xijia City will also arrive.

  Enough idle chatter, let's begin today's first auction item. This is a particularly precious second-grade spiritual herb, named Qingdi Blue, I'm sure the friends who have come won't be unfamiliar with the value of Qingdi Blue, as it's one of the main spiritual herbs used in refining the Condensed True Pill. The starting price is thirty lower-grade spirit stones, now let the bidding begin."

  "Fifty..."

  "Sixty..."

  As soon as the Blue Earth appeared, it immediately triggered a multitude of bids, with bidding continuing non-stop. In just a few breaths' time, the price had already risen to one hundred Spirit Stones.

  "Uncle Shi's face was filled with excitement as he said to Ning Cheng, 'I've accumulated 150 spirit stones. Do you still have any on you? We must get this Azure Blue Crystal. What a stroke of luck, I didn't expect the first item would be the Azure Blue Crystal.'"

  Ning Cheng raised his hand to stop Tai Shu Shi, "Shi Tou, I think we can't have this Lingdi Blue. If the Niguang Grass can be sold at a price, we'd rather spend more spirit stones to find Sanda Dan Master to buy this thing."

  "Why?" Tai Shu Shi asked and immediately reacted, saying "Big brother, you're being too cautious, there are often people selling land in Mengdi, it won't be a problem."

  Ning Cheng smiled, "Stones, since we have a safe choice, why not choose the safe method? Mangdi blue is worthless, but Ningzhen Dan is valuable. Those who want Mangdi blue must also have Jincheng fruit, I think it's better to be cautious."

  "It's not necessarily the case, some people buy Lingdi Blue just to collect spiritual herbs for refining Condensed True Dan like me. I don't have Golden Cicada Fruit." Uncle Shi disagreed.

  Ning Cheng shook his head and said, "Mingdi Blue has already risen to two hundred spirit stones. Without the Golden Cicada Fruit, spending two hundred spirit stones to buy Mingdi Blue alone is something I don't quite believe in. Others might not be afraid, but we don't have that kind of ability."

  Tai Shu Shi only then noticed that the price of Mingdi Blue had reached 210 Ling Stones, a price rarely seen in ordinary times. He nodded, "Brother, or you're telling the truth, at such a high price, buying it back is indeed not safe."

  The last Blue Spirit was bought by one of the private rooms at a price of 220 low-grade spirit stones.

  The host on the auction stage saw that the first item was sold at a high price, and his tone of voice was even more arrogant. "Congratulations to our friend who just bought the Blue Field, now we are going to auction off something very good. Even in our Xijia Auction House, such a fine piece is rarely seen, this is an extreme grade gun-type magic tool, Seven Stars Golden Gun..."

  Tai Shu Shi saw the host monk's hand holding that beautiful golden long gun and hastily said, "Big brother, I see you're also using a spear-type magic weapon, and its level seems ordinary. Why not buy this long gun instead?"

  (Update 2 is uploaded. Please vote for recommendation and collection support, as well as three rivers ticket. New book needs more votes, thank you!)